LSU Tigers at Auburn Tigers
When/Where: 6 p.m. Tuesday at Auburn Arena | Auburn, Alabama
Television: ESPNU
Radio: WDGL-FM 98.1 (Baton Rouge)
Last Meeting: Auburn guards KT Harrell and Antoine Mason exploded on the road against LSU, scoring 52 combined points and making eight 3-pointers as Auburn defeated LSU, 81-77, Feb. 5 in the PMAC. Since then, Auburn has dropped four of five while LSU has gone 3-2.
LSU’s last game: Sophomore forward Jarell Martin’s between-the-legs dunk highlighted a career performance during LSU’s 70-63 victory against Florida on Feb. 21. Martin scored a personal-best 28 points and grabbed 13 boards to pick up his 11th double-double of the season.
Auburn’s last game: Auburn fell behind 9-0 early against No. 1 Kentucky on Feb. 21, but things only got worse for it from there. The Wildcats overwhelmed Auburn from start to finish, winning 110-75. It was Auburn’s third consecutive loss by double figures and fourth in the last five games.
Auburn (12-15, 4-10 SEC)
Possible Starters and Top Reserves:
Graduate student [G] Antoine Mason (6’1’’): 15.6 ppg, 29.6 mpg, 2.5 rpg, 41.7% 3-point FG (40-96).
Senior [G] KT Harrell (6’4’’): 17.9 ppg, 32.7 mpg, 2.9 rpg, 45.2% 3-point FG (76-168).
Junior [F] Jordon Granger (6’8’’): 4.7 ppg, 23.0 mpg, 3.3 rpg, 48.4% FG (45-93).
Junior [F] Cinmeon Bowers (6’7’’): 12.8 ppg, 30.4 mpg, 10.5 rpg, 41.9% FG (129-308).
Senior [G] Malcolm Canada (6’3’’): 5.5 ppg, 21.7 mpg, 68.3% FT (56-82).
Senior [G] K.C. Ross-Miller (6’0’’): 6.5 ppg, 23.6 mpg, 36.3% FG (53-146).
Sophomore [F] Alex Thompson(6’9’’): 2.4 ppg, 10.5 mpg, 64.7% FT (11-17).
LSU (19-8, 8-6 SEC)
Possible Starters and Top Reserves:
Sophomore [G] Tim Quarterman (6’6’’): 11.6 ppg, 33.2 mpg, 5.2 rpg, 3.6 apg, 43.0% FG (104-242).
Freshman [G] Jalyn Patterson (6’0’’): 5.8 ppg, 22.2 mpg, 1.1 spg, 36.4% 3-point FG (28-77).
Junior [G] Keith Hornsby (6’4’’): 12.7 ppg, 35.1 mpg, 4.2 rpg, 37.2% 3-point FG (55-148).
Sophomore [F] Jarell Martin (6’10’’): 16.2 ppg, 34.2 mpg, 8.9 rpg, 50.2% FG (158-315).
Sophomore [F] Jordan Mickey (6’8’’): 16.6 ppg, 35.3 mpg, 10.4 rpg, 3.7 bpg, 51.7% FG (172-333).
Junior [G] Josh Gray (6’1’’): 7.8 ppg, 26.8 mpg, 4.0 apg, 40% FG (74-185).
Sophomore [C] Darcy Malone (7’0’’): 1.0 ppg, 9.0 mpg, 1.4 rpg, 41.2% FG (7-17).
Three Things to Watch For
No Opportunity to Waste
LSU coach Johnny Jones summed up his team’s four-point loss to Auburn on Feb. 5 as a great opportunity gone to waste. Things haven’t changed much since then for either team, nor has the opportunity lessened for LSU.
With only four games to go in the regular season, LSU should lock up an NCAA Tournament berth with at least three wins. According to ESPN Bracketologist Joe Lunardi, LSU currently sits at No. 51 in RPI standings and is listed as an 11-seed in his projected bracket.
Auburn has the poorest record of the remaining teams on LSU’s schedule. Although Auburn knocked off RPI No. 35 Georgia on Feb. 14, coach Bruce Pearl’s club is 2-8 in its last 10 games, coming off its worst loss of the season to No. 1 Kentucky.
While Auburn may be hungry to end a two-game losing streak, this game is of equal importance to LSU, especially with a trip to No. 18 Arkansas to end the season on the horizon.
Same Team, Different Starting Five
The last time these two teams met was the last time junior guard Josh Gray and sophomore center Darcy Malone were in the starting lineup for LSU.
Jones shook things up for his out-of-sync club, inserting sophomore guard Tim Quarterman and freshman guard Jalyn Patterson into the starting lineup for LSU’s 71-60 win against Alabama on Feb. 7. Since then, the backcourt duo hasn’t left the starting lineup, and both average more minutes in the five-game span than their season average.
Without Malone, whose minutes have been sporadic since the last contest, Auburn will face a smaller starting five. But Patterson and Quarterman may bring a more difficult challenge to Auburn, which also has a guard-oriented rotation.
Patterson is averaging almost two steals per game in the last five contests, and Quarterman has seven steals in the past two games, including five against Texas A&M on Feb. 17.
Men on Fire
Despite Auburn’s struggles in conference play, senior guards KT Harrell and Antoine Mason have lately been scorching from the field and behind the 3-point arc.
Including the last meeting against LSU, both players have eclipsed 20 points four different times in six games and have accumulated a 37-for-70 clip from 3-point range in those games.
On top of Harrell — the league leader in scoring — and Mason’s performances, junior forward Cinmeon Brown is the only player in the SEC other than LSU sophomore forward Jordan Mickey to average a double-double.
The three players will likely be the bulk of Auburn’s offense tonight, having scored 68 of the 81 points tallied by Auburn in its win in Baton Rouge. But LSU’s third-ranked SEC field goal and 3-point percentage defense once again provides an interesting matchup.
